PLACEMENT: Public Hearings
TITLE:
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LEGISLATIVE PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER ADOPTION OF EVALUATION AND APPRAISAL REPORT (EAR) BASED COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT 24-04, CHAPTER 4, FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT, A TEXT AMENDMENT
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
executive summary
This is a request to consider adoption of Comprehensive Plan Amendment 24-04, a text amendment to Chapter 4, Future Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan (CGMP) based upon the 2024 EAR.
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DEPARTMENT: Growth Management
PREPARED BY: Name: Clyde Dulin, AICP
Title: Comprehensive Planning Administrator
REQUESTED BY: Board of County Commissioners
PRESET:
PROCEDURES: Plan Amendment
BACKGROUND/RELATED STRATEGIC GOAL:
In accordance with Section 163.3184(4), Florida Statutes, evaluation and appraisal plan amendments must follow the State Coordinated Review Process.
All plan amendments require three public hearings. The first public hearing for this plan amendment was conducted before the Local Planning Agency. At the second hearing the Board of County Commissioners determines whether to transmit or not to transmit plan amendments as part of a set of amendments. After the hearing, the County has 10 working days to send the amendments to the state land planning agency (State).
The State will issue an objections, recommendations, and comments report regarding the proposed plan amendment(s) within 60 days after receipt of the amendment package. Any other unit of local government or government agency may provide comments within 30 days after receipt by the state land planning agency of the complete proposed plan or plan amendment.
Martin County must hold the adoption public hearing within 180 days after receipt of the ORC report. If the County fails to hold a second hearing (adoption hearing) within 180 days after receipt of the ORC report, the amendments shall be deemed withdrawn unless extended by agreement with notice to the state land planning agency and any affected person that provided comments on the amendment. After the adoption hearing, adopted plan amendments must be transmitted within 10 working days to the State and any other agency or local government that provided timely comments.
The State has 45 days to determine if the plan amendments are in compliance with Florida Statute and will issue a notice of intent to find that the plan amendments are in compliance or not in compliance. A plan amendment adopted under the state coordinated review process shall go into effect pursuant to the state land planning agency’s notice of intent. If timely challenged, an amendment does not become effective until the state land planning agency or the Administration Commission enters a final order determining the adopted amendment to be in compliance.
Decisions approving or rejecting proposed amendments constitute legislative actions because they involve the policy making function of the BCC. They are different from rezoning and site plan decisions which are quasi-judicial actions involving the application of general rules of policy to specific situations. If approval of a Comprehensive Plan amendment is challenged by an affected person, the approval will be sustained if it complies with Florida Statutes regarding (1) procedural requirements (e.g. proper notice, public hearing), and (2) substantive requirements (e.g. adequate data and analysis, internal consistency). The fairly debatable standard is applicable to the review and requires judicial approval of a BCC approval if reasonable persons could differ as to the propriety of the decision. For example, if a petitioner were to claim that an amendment adopted a provision that was not consistent with an existing provision of the Comprehensive Plan, the court would strike down the amendment only if the court found no reasonable person would think that the two provisions are consistent.
The Local Planning Agency reviewed this EAR-based amendment on October 3, 2024, and voted 3-1 to recommend approval. On October 22, 2024 the BCC voted 4-1 to transmit this amendment to the State Land Planning Agency. The State provided the ORC report on December 30, 2024.
ISSUES:
Staff scheduled the public hearings for adoption of the EAR based plan amendments on the following dates:
• February 25, 2025
• March 11, 2025
• March 25, 2025
At each of the dates listed above, the Board considered amendments to one or more chapters of the CGMP. Each public hearing was opened on its scheduled day. The public hearings on February 25, 2025 and March 11, 2025, were continued to March 25, 2025. During the March 25, 2025 Board meeting, the continued public hearings will be reopened for the Board to vote on adoption of the amendment. After adoption, each amendment must be transmitted to the state land planning agency within 10 days.
The public hearing for Chapter 4, Future Land Use Element, was not opened on February 25 or March 11. Please see the attached staff report for analysis of the proposed amendment.
LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW:
This is a legislative matter. Legislative decisions are those in which the local government formulates policy rather than applying specific rules to a particular situation. A local government’s approval or denial of an issue in its legislative capacity is typically subject to a fairly debatable standard of review. Fairly debatable means that the government’s action must be upheld if reasonable minds could differ as to the propriety of the decision reached. Decisions subject to the fairly debatable standard of review need only be rationally related to a legitimate public purpose, such as the health, safety, and welfare of the public, to be valid. Given this broad discretion, only decisions that are arbitrary and capricious or illegal are subject to serious legal challenge.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RECOMMENDATION
Move that the Board adopt CPA 24-04, Chapter 4, Future Land Use Element, and provide a copy of the adopted amendment package to the State Land Planning Agency and other regional reviewing agencies.
ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Move that staff provide more information and continue the item to a date certain, at 9:00 am or as soon after as the matter may be heard in Chambers at the Martin County Administrative Building.
FISCAL IMPACT:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff time.
ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff time.
DOCUMENT(S) REQUIRING ACTION:
☐Budget Transfer / Amendment ☐ Chair Letter ☐Contract / Agreement
☐Grant / Application ☐Notice ☒Ordinance ☐Resolution
☐Other:
This document may be reproduced upon request in an alternative format by contacting the County ADA Coordinator (772) 320-3131, the County Administration Office (772) 288-5400, Florida Relay 711, or by completing our accessibility feedback form at www.martin.fl.us/accessibility-feedback <http://www.martin.fl.us/accessibility-feedback>.